1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating an inkjet print head and, more particularly, to a method of fabricating an inkjet print head using a photocurable resin composition.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet printer is an apparatus for printing an image by ejecting minute droplets of ink at a desired position on a recording medium, which is widely used because of an inexpensive price and capability of printing many kinds of colors at a high resolution.
This inkjet printer includes an inkjet head and an ink reservoir connected to the inkjet head. The inkjet head includes a chamber plate defining an ink flow path and an ink chamber, a heating resistor located in the ink chamber and a nozzle layer having a nozzle located corresponding to the heating resistor. The ink stored in the ink reservoir passes through an ink feed port to flow along the ink flow path, and is supplied into the ink chamber. When a current is supplied to the heating resistor, the heating resistor generates heat. The heat generates bubbles in the ink supplied into the ink chamber. The bubbles expand to apply pressure to the ink filled in the ink chamber. The ink is ejected by the pressure through the nozzle.
To secure reliable and stable operation, the inkjet printer must meet with various requirements. Above all, the chamber layer and the nozzle layer come into contact with an aqueous material, i.e., the ink at all times, so that they must have corrosion resistance against the ink as well as high mechanical strength to serve as a structure. Furthermore, the two layers must have an effective adhesive characteristic with respect to a substrate.
To meet these requirements, research intended to form the chamber layer and the nozzle layer using a photocurable resin composition is in progress. For example, according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,606, an ink flow path and an ink ejection outlet are formed by forming a photosensitive coating resin layer using a solution containing an epoxy resin and a cationic photopolymerization initiator. The cationic photopolyerization initiator is exposed to generate cations. The cations initiate polymerization of the epoxy resin. In the process of forming the photosensitive coating resin layer, when the cations are brought into contact with a heating resistor, which is generally formed of a metal, the heating resistor may be damaged. Therefore, before forming the photosensitive coating resin layer, a passivation layer should be formed on the heating resistor.